LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY 2018 Mardi Gras/Alumni Swing Tournament Dear Colleagues, Louisiana State University is honored to host the 2018 Mardi Gras/Alumni Swing from February 2nd - February 4 th 2017. The Louisiana State University Speech & Debate team cordially invites you and your team to experience Mardi Gras traditions right here on our Baton Rouge campus! The Mardi Gras Classic/Alumni Swing will offer NPDA, IPDA, and Team IPDA debate, as well as all 11 AFA-NIET events. This year s theme is: Lagniappe (Something Extra) and we plan on offering an extra bit of fun to all our events! Below you will find information about tournament entries, schedules, accommodations, and fees. Please contact me at jreed2@lsu.edu if you have any questions or need additional assistance. We look forward to hosting you. Laissez les bon temps roulez! Joquina M. Reed Tournament Director Louisiana State University Email: jreed2@lsu.edu
Inclusivity and Safe Spaces: Louisiana State University and the LSU Speech and Debate program affirms and emphasizes our commitment to provide an educational and work environment free from student harassment and to provide a safe space allowing for the diversity of ideas and maximizes inclusivity for all. We uphold the ideal that inclusion of all ability, cultural, ethnic, gender, nationality, racial and sexual orientation identities is of high priority for our campus and team. Equitable access and safety for all individuals and groups is essential to an enjoyable tournament experience. Therefore we are more than willing to make adjustments in student entry listings, room accommodations, or anything we can do to ensure that ALL members of your team are treated with dignity. We desire to be proactive rather than reactive with these concerns. Please email the tournament director @ jreed2@lsu.edu with any pressing issues in this area. Our Hotel: The official tournament hotel is the Courtyard Baton Rouge Acadian Central/LSU Area located at 2421 South Acadian Thruway Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70808. The hotel is near LSU and right off Interstate 10. The vibrant downtown area is 4 miles away with the State Capitol building, USS Kidd and LSU Art Museum all within reach. Please directly call Marriott Reservations at 1 (800) 321-2211 or (225) 924-6400 on or before 5:00 PM EST, Thursday, January 4, 2018 and request the LSU Mardi Gras Tournament block. The guaranteed room rate is $89.00 per night. The Hotel s room rates are subject to applicable state and local taxes (currently 14%) in effect at the time of check out. Here are other local hotels that may offer up reasonable lodging and pricing: Hampton Inn and Suites Baton Rouge Downtown- (225) 382-2100 Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham - Baton Rouge Airport- 1 (888) 595-1878 Crowne Plaza Baton Rouge- (225) 925-2244 Our Events: (Both Halves)Flight A: Ext, Prose, Per, Poe, CA, DI (Both Halves)Flight B: Info, Imp, POI, Duo, ADS 1. We will have all American Forensics Association individual events, as well as appropriate divisions of parliamentary debate, IPDA and Team IPDA.
2. Schools shall not be limited in entries per event, however only the top 4 entries in each event / division will count for sweepstakes awards. A. All parliamentary debate rounds shall follow the time limits and rules established under the National Parliamentary Debate Association. Divisions offered will be Varsity and Novice (divisions may be collapsed into one open division if necessary due to limited entries). 6 preliminary rounds and the appropriate number of elimination rounds will be offered. B. All IPDA debate rounds shall follow the time limits and rules established under the International Public Debate Association. Dependent upon entry size will we offer all IPDA sanctioned divisions: Novice, Junior Varsity, Varsity and Professional. 6 preliminary rounds and the appropriate number of elimination rounds will be offered. Team IPDA will occur concurrently with the 1 st half of IE s with 4 preliminary rounds and the appropriate number of elimination rounds. Competitors in TIPDA will not be able to compete in Individual Events during the first LSU portion of the tournament. C. Rules and descriptions for individual events that are established and followed by the American Forensics Association will be used at the tournament. Internet access is allowed in Extemporaneous Speaking. 3. Awards shall be presented to all elimination round participants in all events. Awards shall be presented to the top three pentathlon participants and top three speakers in each debate division. An award shall also be presented to the top community college. Additionally, the top three schools in debate, individual events, and overall sweepstakes competitions will receive awards for each half as well as the overall weekend. General Information: No minimum number of entries is required for schools to count toward debate or individual events sweepstakes awards. Schools must be entered in both debate and individual events in order to be eligible for the overall sweepstakes. To be eligible for Individual Sweepstakes, students must compete in a minimum of four events.
Fees: Covered I.E. s -$12 Uncovered I.E.- $18 Covered NPDA - $50 Uncovered NPDA- $75 Covered IPDA - $30 Uncovered IPDA- $40 Covered IPDA Team- $50 Uncovered IPDA Team- $70 Late Fees -- $15 Drop Fees-- $15 Late Judge Drop-- $50 Judges: We really need your judges! One judge covers up to six IE entries or two TIPDA teams. One judge during debate rounds cover 4 IPDA debaters or 2 NPDA debate teams. Entries: Must be submitted via Speechwire. Visit www.speechwire.com to submit all entries. We humbly request all entries be submitted by 5pm on Monday, January 29th. Each change after 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, Janurary 31 st will result in additional charges. Our Schedule: Friday Feb 3rd: (LSU Half) IPDA Schedule 8:00-8:30 NPDA~IPDA Registration Draw: 8:30 NPDA~IPDA 1 Draw: 10:00 NPDA~IPDA 2 Draw: 11:30 NPDA~IPDA 3 Lunch Break: 12:30-1:15 Draw: 1:30 NPDA~IPDA 4 Draw: 3:00 NPDA~IPDA 5 Draw: 4:30 NPDA~IPDA 6 6:00 Coaches Review/Complimentary Dinner Draw: 7:00 NPDA~IPDA Elim 1 Draw: 8:30 NPDA~IPDA Elim 2 Early Registration for I.E. s from 6:00PM-8:00PM
Saturday Feb 4th (LSU Half) Draw: 7:30 NPDA~IPDA Elim 3 Draw: 8:45 NPDA~IPDA Elim 4 8:30-9:30 I.E. Registration/Coffee Hour Draw: 9:30 Extemp Draw 10:00 Round 1 Flight A 11:15 Round 1 Flight B Lunch Break: 12:15-12:45 (Complimentary) Draw: 1:00 Extemp Draw 1:30 Round 2 Flight A 2:45 Round 2 Flight B Draw: 4:00 Extemp Draw Finals 4:30 Flight A Finals 5:45 Flight B Finals 7:30 Awards (Start with I.E.s and TIPDA Elim 2) Sunday Feb 5 (Alumni Half) Draw: 8:00 Extemp Draw 8:30 Round 1 Flight A 9:45 Round 1 Flight B Draw: 11:00 Extemp Draw 11:30 Round 2 Flight A 12:45 Round 2 Flight B 2:00 Lunch (Complimentary) 3:00 Extemp Draw Finals 3:30 Flight A Finals 4:45 Flight B Finals 6:30 Awards TIPDA Schedule Sat Feb 4 Draw: 10:00 TIPDA Round 1 Draw: 11:30 TIPDA Round 2 Lunch Break: 1-1:30 (Complimentary) Draw: 1:30 TIPDA Round 3 Draw: 3:00 TIPDA Round 4 4:30 Coaches Review Draw: 5:00 TIPDA Elim 1 Draw: 6:30 TIPDA Elim 2 Draw: 7:30 Awards (Start with I.E.s and TIPDA Elim 2) ASAP TIPDA Elim 3 (if necessary)